Review: Dragon Ball Super Episode 49

After all that waiting, it’s hard to believe that Dragon Ball Super is three episodes into the new Future Trunks / Black Goku saga already. It has been a case of ‘so far, so good’ thus far. With Future Trunks now awake in the more familiar timeline, is he really going to try kill Goku?Spoilers after the bump:

A Message From The Future

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwQWIx3qx2E

Goku Black Invades!

Unlike how the preview made out, no, Dragon Ball Super Episode 49 is not centred around a furious battle between Goku and Future Trunks. Rather, our time travelling friend is more or less immediately brought to his senses with the aid of a swift slap to the back of the head from Bulma, giving him a chance to apologise and explain himself. For any lingering doubters, yes, this is definitely the same version of Trunks that traveled back in time in Dragon Ball Z to warn everybody about the androids and help them fight cell. If the flashbacks he had previously weren’t enough to convince, he now comes right out and talks about their mutual experiences, so that’s one mystery solved.

Another question which is answered in Dragon Ball Super Episode 49 is whether or not Maijin Buu emerged in Future Trunks’ timeline. As it turns out, Trunks was able to defeat Dabura (and by extension Babadi) with the help of the Kaioshin, meaning Maijin Buu was never revived. Even though the flashback was brief, it was pretty cool to see Dabura back in action. the scene also shows just how big a mess Goku, Gohan and Vegeta made of dealing with Babadi and his cronies. The trio of Super Saiyans drew things out for a ridiculous length of time, resulting in the deaths of countless innocents. By contrast, Trunks managed to put the threat to a halt more or less on his own in one furious battle. Go Trunks.

One mystery which we are not much closer to solving however, is who exactly the villainous Goku Black is. Trunks mentions that they call him that simply because he looks like Goku and wears black, but he offers no further explanation as to where he came from, other than that when he first (the silliness of this is pointed out) appeared he said that he was going to “eradicate the earthlings in the name of justice”. This quote just adds an extra layer to the mystery. Clearly he is someone who has a serious beef with the people of Earth, but the who and the why are very much unclear at this point. We also learn that Goku Black possesses a magical ‘time ring’ which he uses to pursue Future Trunks back into our timeline. Where did he get that? How does it work? There’s plenty for Dragon Ball fans to chew on until next week!

We also learn that Goku Black is exceptionally strong as Goku and Future Trunks have a sparring match to test their competitive strengths and gauge what kind of a threat Black poses. Trunks uses his full power (super Saiyan 2) while Goku steps up to Super Saiyan 3. The latter, as expected, turns out to be a lot more powerful than the former and Future Trunks is bested fairly quickly. While the match is every bit as one-sided as Gotenks and Copy Vegeta’s fight in Episode 45, it is done a lot more convincingly. The key here is that SS3 Goku actually had to block Future Trunks’s assault as opposed to just standing there and having blows bounce off him (the laziest style of Dragon Ball fight). According to Future Trunks, Goku Black is perhaps a bit stronger than Goku as he fought him. Whether or not that means Goku’s Super Saiyan Blue form can best him remains to be seen. Nevertheless, it was nice to see the SS2 and SS3 forms getting a run out as they seem to have fallen to the wayside in recent years.

Despite the fact that a terrifying villain is en route, Dragon Ball Super Episode 49 still manages to squeeze in a reasonable amount of humour. The Pilaf Gang continue pushing their crackpot ‘illegitimate child’ theory, with hilarious results. Sadly however, Bulma nips them in the bud and reveals that Future Trunks is from the, you know, future. Personally, I feel that Dallas-esque subplot could have been a great running gag for the rest of the saga, but que sera. There’s also a very funny moment where Future Trunks is told that there is a God present. He immediately bows before Whis and refers to him as ‘God’ (not a God, but THE God), much to Beerus-sama’s chagrin. It’s moments like this where you have to take a step back and admire Dragon Ball for the absolute madness that it really is. And that’s not even mentioning the bizarre moment where Emperor Pilaf fantasises about the petty things he would do if he could use the time machine.

Intentionally or unintentionally though, the funniest moment in Dragon Ball Super #49 is when Goku and Goku Black finally meet. Our future villain states, “You must be Goku” while Goku responds, “And you’re Black!”, with the line almost being delivered like it were an insult, or at the very least in the triumphantly ignorant fashion Dragon Ball Abridged Goku delivers a line. While this is almost certainly a case of this reviewer reading far too much between the lines, one cannot help but wonder if this was some sort of sly joke at the expense of those who claimed to be offended when they heard that there would be a Black Goku saga a couple of months ago. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time accusations of racism were aimed at the Dragon Ball franchise.

Overall, Episode 49 of Dragon Ball Super is another hot, making it three for three as far as the Future trunks / Black Goku saga is concerned. There’s a really good blend of action, comedy, exposition and mystery that makes it a great watch.

Next week marks the half century for Dragon Ball Super. To mark the occasion, we’re finally going to get to see Goku fight Goku Black. This is the one we’ve been waiting for folks!

Sean is Geek Ireland's resident dinosaur enthusiast, having been fascinated by prehistory since a time before he could read, speak or stand in an upright position (he still struggles to do at least one of these things on a daily basis).
Known as one of the biggest dinosaur fans Ireland has ever produced, Sean has delivered talks on his favourite subject at many venues and events including the Irish Film Institute, the UCD Science Expression Festival, Tayto Park, Dublin Comic Con and even London's Comedy Store.